It's common knowledge that it takes a series of pretty bad life choices to end up as a corrupt, overweight police captain in a fetid South American backwater, (just ask John Glynn,) but yesterday's Rip Haywire probes a bit deeper into the overworked, choleterol-clogged heart of darkness. Surely, whoever gave the strip's bad-guy du jour such terrible Monopoly advice must bear the brunt of the blame for setting him on his regrettable life path of corpulent criminal schemery.

For if there is one thing that every right-thinking citizen learns from the very cradle, nay, the womb, it's that pretty much anything can stop he who controls Marvin Gardens.

Good luck, El Capitan -- no Community Chest in the world can save you.

Music to my eyes: “Fantagraphics Books has announced its intention
to publish a series of full-color Peanuts
books featuring the strip's color Sunday material. The first volume, Peanuts Every Sunday: 1952-1955, will
drop this November. It should run 288 pages, contain four years worth of the long-running
strip, and measure at just under 13 inches by 10 inches. It will retail at $50…
There are ten volumes planned.” Read the complete Comics Reporter story here.

Recently, the Peanuts gang has spiced up MetLife’s
commercials for term life insurance. Typically an uncomfortable topic, life
insurance is made a bit more light and cheery with the help of Charlie Brown,
Snoopy, Peppermint Patty, Schroeder and Woodstock. Check out the Peanuts
characters on these commercials.

I have never had an interest in life insurance, but anything
with the Peanuts cast must be “cool.”

This Arlo & Janis nicely illustrates what I've come to realize this past winter: that even in freezing temperatures, guys are more comfortable cooking things on an outdoor grill than they are in a nice, warm kitchen.

Cozyin' up to a T-Rex? That's plain craziness! It's also part of a secret plot by the jealous Wizer to lead a dino invasion of Moo that only he will be able to stop, thus making him the hero. But something tells me it won't be quite that simple (large-scale hypnosis and martializing of dinosaurs so rarely is). Whatever winds up happening, I'm on the edge of my office chair waiting to find out. Read more Alley Oop toons here.

Why should I be proud? you ask. Well that's a lovely question. And I shall answer it.

I am proud of it because it's executive produced by Universal Uclick's own Amuse division.

Funny story how this all happened. I was minding my own business at a Patti LaBelle concert when John "Close to Home" McPherson burst through the crowd with a small book in his hand. That book, of course, was Small Apartments.

Small Apartments was an award-winning book by John's assistant on Close to Home -- Chris Millis. When he gave me the book I sat down and read it all in one good read. I found it to be exhilirating and funny and different, like wasabi flavored mayonnaise.

Anyway, one thing led to another and I showed it to some producer friends who had the same idea that I did --- "let's get some curly fries!" But after we finished those, we said, "wouldn't this make a great film?"

World-class cyclist Lance Armstrong confirmed in a
multi-part interview with Oprah Winfrey that he did indeed use performance-enhancing
drugs during his cycling career. All of his Tour de France wins were aided by
doping.

Athletes around the globe are shocked and discouraged, as
are cartoonists.

Fans across America felt for him during his time of
“grieving” and offered him support and condolence. They reveled in his
triumphant performance during the Michigan State game because they believed he
played while facing immense adversity. To find out that it was all a hoax is
incredibly disheartening and confusing, to say the least.

Pretty cool to be catching up on my Sunday comics feed when who should walk by but Luann creator Greg Evans. Mr. Evans is visiting our offices right now to talk through some upcoming projects and story lines. Great guy, wonderful comic strip.

--Lucas

Clearly, being a lady is overrated.

--Elizabeth

Like most educational institutions, tuition is skyrocketing
for students.

--Julia

Pretty fang-tastic Sunday from our friends at Ripley's Believe it or Not. I usually read these in the newspaper in black and white, but getting to see them in color on GoComics is an experience that shouldn't be passed up (great fun facts to drop at parties, too).

If you're anything like me, you love hot dogs. Well, I cannot think of a hotter dog right now than Wally the Weiner dog from Drabble. We've been monitoring the analytics and since Wally's taken a larger role in the strip the numbers have gone through the roof. And always remember, that analytics (unlike family members and syndicate executives) never lie.

Check Wally out. He will make you laugh and make you think (about barking at mail carriers).

Rick Stromoski has just announced that he'll be publishing a new "Soup to Nutz" collection, this time to be funded through a Kickstarter campaign. Soup to Nutz is a strip I look forward to reading each week (us editor-folk get tear sheets of a week at a time, otherwise I'd just read it every day on GoComics). In true Kickstarter style, Rick has a number of tiers at which you can kick in to get a new book, signed prints or other goodies. To close, here's a S2N Sunday classic from 2007...

Today is a very sad day for the Universal Uclick family. We are mourning the loss of a brilliant woman. The original "Dear Abby," Pauline Friedman Phillips, passed away at the age of 94 after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer's disease. She passed her advice column on to her daughter in 2000, and it continues to be the mostly widely syndicated column in the world.